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Ok, ok all. I am fully on board. DT is nuts and I’m sorry I ever defended him…

From a newsletter I read occasionally: Wait … what happened? This: Even as someone accustomed to Trump’s edge-pushing, this was … a lot. This is, in fact, outrageous. It is intolerable. It is wicked. It cannot stand. Here’s the White House line: But the evidence that he is a gang member is not at all solid, and there is no evidence that he is a terrorist. He was here legally, though that’s not how he came. He should have been deported using normal channels years ago, but he wasn’t, and now he has the legal right to stay here. The man was sent away without any chance to prove his case. Andy McCarthy, the former federal prosecutor, explains. Excerpt: What if those desires are — what’s the word? — illegal? That’s what is at issue. Abrego Garcia should have been deported much earlier, as he came here illegally. But he obtained legal status allowing him to remain in the US. Maybe that was a mistaken ruling, but nevertheless, that is the law. Even Trump’s government admits that Abrego Garcia was deported because of an “administrative error”. Trump is now saying that the US Government has no authority to compel El Salvador to send one of its citizens back to America. This is absurd: all Trump has to say to Bukele is, “Send him back,” and it will be done. McCarthy: The Trump team keeps repeating the line that Abrego Garcia is a “terrorist,” and that justifies what they’re doing. But that has not been proven! He denies it, and his denial in court hearings in the past were persuasive to the courts. What gives Trump special knowledge, such that he knows better than judges who have heard the evidence? What we know is that in 2019, the Trump administration alleged that Abrego Garcia is in MS-13 — based primarily on the claim of a confidential informant, and the fact that he wore a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie. The informant said Abrego Garcia was part of MS-13 in New York — a place in which he has never lived. Abrego Garcia strongly denies he has anything to do with MS-13. He could be lying. How are we to know without due process? In any case, there has never been any substantiation of the claim that this man was or is in MS-13. Besides which, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Abrego Garcia has the right to be in America. Maybe the Court is completely wrong, but that is how the system works. Trump is only defying the Court now based on a technicality. As far as I’m concerned, Abrego Garcia, who entered the US illegally, should be deported. There is a way to do that legally: bring him back, lift the court stay preventing him from being deported, and send him back legally. After all, SCOTUS said that Abrego Garcia had been wrongfully deported because of an “administrative error.” This was the position of the Trump administration … until suddenly, it wasn’t. Stephen Miller went on Fox News and claimed otherwise: They fired an excellent Justice Department lawyer for advancing the same view as ICE and the Trump-appointed Solicitor General? I guess Team Trump needed a scapegoat rather than admit that they are in error here. It seems that the White House is using a technicality in the SCOTUS ruling to avoid doing what common sense and common decency requires: bringing Abrego Garcia back and sending him home the legal way. (And “home” means to El Salvador, not necessarily to that brutal maximum security prison there.) This is a bright red line, I think, because the administration is not only transparently concocting a narrative to justify its mistaken, illegal deportation of this guy, but it is also flagrantly defying the Supreme Court. Again, it’s not exactly a direct defiance, because the Court left just enough space for Team Trump to pretend that it has no power to compel El Salvador to send Abrego Garcia back. But think about it: what if you were illegally deported to a Supermax prison in El Salvador, and the Supreme Court ordered that you be returned to the US. How would you feel if the administration threw up its hands and said, “Sorry, but we can’t tell the government of El Salvador what to do”? Keep in mind that even though Abrego Garcia is not a US citizen, and was, in fact, in the US illegally, he still had the protection of the law. This is a bright red line, having to do with the rule of law. I am generally supportive of the aggressive stance Trump has taken on deportations of illegals. This problem has grown nearly uncontrollable because of previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, not taking it seriously. I anticipate that there will be bureaucratic errors in this process, and don’t consider them to invalidate the mission. But when those mistakes come to light, then the administration must backtrack, and do things legally. This eagerness to defy the courts is destabilizing of the legal and constitutional order. The only way, it seems, that the administration can tamp down public anger is to keep repeating the line that Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 member — an allegation based on a single information, that has never been substantiated. The administration’s willingness to leave a possibly innocent man languishing in that El Salvador prison shocks the conscience. So do stories like this, about Merwil Guitierrez, a 19-year-old Venezuelan illegal taken off the streets of New York and sent to that same prison. The kid was swept up in an ICE raid and shipped off to the prison in El Salvador, despite the fact that there is no evidence that he had anything to do with a gang, and the absence of any criminal charges against him. Again, the fact that he was in America illegally is sufficient evidence to deport him. But to dispatch this teenager to live as a captive among some of the hardest criminals in the world? In what moral universe does that make sense? As one Fourth Circuit federal appeals court judge wrote in the three-judge panel’s April 7 ruling denying the government’s claim: This is a fundamental rule of law question. So I ask you again: if the Trump administration erroneously and illegally put your husband, son, or brother — an American citizen — on a deportation flight to El Salvador, and when called on by the Supreme Court to bring you back, said, “Hey, we can’t make the Salvadorans let him go” — how would you feel about it? From that Fourth Circuit ruling: I see today that members of the administration are on message about Abrego Garcia being a “terrorist” and “MS-13 member”. What is preventing them from the showing the evidence they have that stand up that claim? You can’t make the disturbing aspects of this case go away by simply asserting over and over that the guy is in MS-13, and hoping that people will believe you just because you say it often enough. Here is a link to detailed information about Abrego Garcia’s detention, and the hearsay evidence that got him tagged as a gang member. Who is the law here — the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump? This is indeed “a slippery — and dangerous — constitutional slope.” Do we want to be rid of illegal immigrants so badly that we are prepared to accept something like this? Where then would you and I hide if the US Government decided that the country would be better off if we were stuffed away in some Salvadoran hellhole prison, despite our legal right to be in the United States? This is indeed a very, very slippery slope. Trump is 100% wrong on this. His actions are illegal. One would hope that Congress would have the fortitude to impeach him over it.

Starting to feel like the college game, where the power conferences/programs are hoarding talent, both coaching and players, and everyone else is getting left farther behind. To be fair, TH North is in 5A purgatory.

Just heard that this guy is out now? Something to do with a background check? I'll just shut up and we'll see what happens at the board meeting tomorrow. haha

You might be grabbing an incoming transfer QB.... IU asst coach has a kid that can play

there was a community member 15+ years ago id imagine now who was quite something around these parts, he finally admitted to have never played the game or coached but was cross crountry kid, man forgot what user name that was but ..... he was a handful

I'll take North Central to play Brownsburg in the Regional. They should give LN and LC all they can handle. NC is Top 6 in 6A next year. Heard it here first. Two years they'll contend for 6A. Even with the idiotic Washington Township 2.0 rule.

I've been impressed with Valpo's physicality last couple of years. Wouldn't be surprised if they do beat Merrillville. I just like to troll Merrillville fans.

I would not count out the Valparaiso Vikings on April 16th so lets not pass out the Regional Trophy just yet. Lol I would be shocked if Merrillville isn't the "favorite" but Valpo is 2-4 against Merrillville from 2022- today and 2 of those losses were last season. Vikings are due for a shocking win. Lol

Yes sir, another winning season is a given. Another sectional too! Another regional as well! And then another exit in the semi-state...but they only lose by 16 pts this time!

Almost all associations now do online meetings. The IHSAA required 2 of the meetings to be in person last year. I preferred all in person but that went away with COVID. People complain too much about the time to attend meetings especially since some have to travel a decent distance to attend. I will vouch for the NE group though. They have excellent veteran officials and provide quality training.

I'll drive. I'll let you run cross country and climb it.

I know you do. Never doubted that.

I think it is more of a reflection on where things sit in Public Schools right now in Indiana. With an average stipend to Head football coaches of something south of $8,000, it's much more complex to have the "other" job for that coach readily available and provide enough additional dollars to attract an outside candidate. However, the word on the street is that Princeton did make some other offers to established coaches in the area that were rumored to be "the best offers for HS Football HC in the state South of Indy". If those rumors are true, kudos to Princeton for trying as hard as possible.

The high road has the best view.

Doesn't account for the new IHSAA transfer portal either. Some big names heading to new schools will shake things up more than normal.

Lighten up, Francis.